Wednesday, January 25, 2012

This past weekend Beren and I loaded up the RV and took a little road trip to Cocoa Beach & Cape Canaveral.

Captain of the RV

His trusty Crewmember

We had a wonderful drinking and dining and soaking up the local sights.

Cocoa Beach

View from our campground

Milliken's Reef, Cape Canaveral

On Saturday night we attended a pirate party, the real reason for our visit to the area! I don't have any pics of the event itself because I forgot my camera, but here we are in the RV before we left..

all laced up and ready to go!

happy pirate couple <3

We were having such a great time, surrounded by zillions of other pirates and wenches, and apparently Beren was quite caught up in the romance of the moment because he surprised me with a proposal! That's right, after being apart for 23 years, reunited for 8, we are finally going to tie the knot! Our handfasting will take place on our anniversary, Feb 29th. We're so excited, stay tuned for more details!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

When I posted these pics and story on FB, I got some flack for it, some people thinking I'm hating on skinny girls. On the contrary, I think all natural women are beautiful, and can appreciate the fact that there are some who are naturally thin, who may even struggle to gain weight! I was one of them, once upon a time, and have three daughters who are "thin-ish" to varying degrees! My issue is with current society's supposed ideal of beauty, and the pressure it puts upon women to meet it.

Since when is Size 6 considered "plus sized?"

There's something seriously wrong here, and I don't see anything changing in the near future, do you? It causes me grave concern for the future generation.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Good morning, TGIF! Here in the US it'll be a long weekend for most of us as we'll be honoring Martin Luther King on Monday. Beren is also off today, yippee! We have a ton of household projects to complete but I'm sure we'll also manage to squeeze in a little bit of fun.

Since we've been back "home" at the South FL house, I've been clearing out the pantry & freezer, trying to use up food that's accumulated in our absence. (Even though Kali and Jesus live here as well, they don't have the time to cook as much as I do). Last night I made a Shepherdless Pie which, while tasty, wasn't actually a recipe worthy of sharing here. Tonight, though, I'm looking forward to serving this shrimp dish. Chock full of veggies, protein, and lacking the "white stuff," it's a perfect fit for my new year's Way of Eating.

Keep a bag of large frozen shrimp on hand for this quick
and easy sautéed meal. The juices from the tomatoes add a wonderful
flavor to the sauce.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil, extra-virgin, divided

1 medium uncooked zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 pound(s) uncooked shrimp, large-size, peeled and deveined

1 cup(s) grape tomatoes, cut in half

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup(s) water

Instructions

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high
heat. Add zucchini in a single layer; increase heat to high and cook
until bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Flip zucchini and cook until
golden on other side, about 2 minutes more. Remove zucchini to a plate
with a slotted spoon.

Heat remaining teaspoon oil in same skillet. Add shrimp; sauté 1 to 2
minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper; sauté until shrimp are
almost just cooked through, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic and water;
sauté, stirring to loosen bits from bottom of pan, until shrimp are
cooked through and tomatoes are softened, about 1 to 2 minutes more.
Return zucchini to skillet; toss and serve. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per
serving.

Notes

Try this with fresh basil instead of, or in addition to, the oregano (just stir it in right at the end).

Grate some lemon zest over top and/or sprinkle with fresh lemon juice, if desired.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

January 10,
2012Calming MovementsLeo Daily HoroscopeYou may feel nervous and jumpy today. When difficulties arise,
you could overreact emotionally and feel as if tension were suffusing your
entire being. You may also feel your sense of anxiety expand into your body,
causing you pain and stiffness. You may, however, be able to relieve both your
mental and physical symptoms simultaneously by engaging in exercise or
meditation. Because the mind and body are intimately connected, calming
activities that focus on working tension out in one area can have a similarly
positive effect on the other. Today can be the perfect time to begin an exercise
routine or invite loved ones to meditate with you.

When you exercise,
the anxiety in your mind is relieved as the tension in your body is drained
away. Simple, repetitive movements can do much to calm a nervous mind and help
you regain clarity of thought. As you utilize your body's muscles, you reconnect
with the earth and ground yourself, both in the physical plane and in your body.
Life-giving oxygen floods your body's systems and to your brain, giving you the
strength you need to overcome your worries and soothe your spirit. The intensity
of your emotions will lessen as you get lost in the cadence of your physical
movements, and a feeling of sweet serenity will remain. Taking time to exercise
today will help you release the tension in body and mind so that you are more
present to life.

Good advice from Daily Om, think I'll go on a nice long walk today. The weather here has been gorgeous, although we did have to turn the AC back on, it was just too humid in the house. Looks like another cool front will be coming in toward the end of the week, yay! As you know, it's Pizza Night here at the Castle, and I'm scrambling to find a "no-white-stuff" substitute for myself. I think I found the perfect one here, stay tuned for pics and review!

I have some errands to run and chores to attend to, but before I go I'll leave you with this exercise video from the 1960's. Ms. Debbie Drake, she was something else!

Monday, January 9, 2012

I know, not everyone shares my enthusiasm for this first day of the work week but I'm just happy to put the weekend's indulgences behind me and get back on track! I'm starting off this fresh new week with a new-to-me recipe, Bulgur-Stuffed Bell Peppers from the book Carb Conscious Vegetarian by Robin Robertson.

Place the peppers in a pot of boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes to soften slightly. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley, salt and pepper.

Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the bulgur. Taste to adjust the seasoning. Stuff the peppers with the filling and place in a lightly oiled baking dish. Pour the tomato juice all over and cover with foil. Bake until the peppers are tender, about 30 minutes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thursday, January 5, 2012

You all know that I'm not a big fan of red meat, but now & then I crave a little, err...beef. *wink*

My local grocery store has London Broil on sale this week, BOGO, so I decided to try a new recipe. This one from Allrecipes.com does use some "processed" products that I'm trying to avoid, but I happen to have everything on hand so I'm going to take advantage of that.

I ran this through Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder, total PointsPlus per serving is 6. Not bad at all. I'll be serving this with potatoes for the family, mashed cauliflower for me. I've gotta tell you, it smells fabulous!!

Slow Cooker London Broil

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Hours

Ready In: 10 Hours 10 Minutes

Servings: 8

"The steak is
cooked with condensed tomato soup mixed with cream of mushroom soup. Dry
onion soup mix is sprinkled over the top."

Ingredients:

2 pounds flank steak

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom

soup

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup

1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

Directions:

1.

Place meat in the bottom of the slow cooker; if necessary, slice meat to make it fit!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

When my kids were small, I used to keep an empty plastic ice cream container in our freezer. To this I would add bits of leftover vegetables, meat, rice, etc., from a couple weeks' worth of dinners. On the outside of the container I drew a fairy and wrote "Fairy Soup" and told the girls that the fairies were going to make their leftovers into soup! When the container got full enough, I would dump in into the crockpot, add fresh ingredients, some broth, and let it cook all day. When it was done, we all enjoyed it with great relish and thanked the fairies for a job well done. Silly, perhaps, but it encouraged my family to eat leftovers and taught them not to waste food!

When we returned home from Ormond Monday night, I found the refrigerator packed full. There were little containers stacking the shelves, all halfway full of vegetables, meat, etc., whatever Kali and Jesus had cooked over the past week. So, this morning I got to work. I cleaned out the fridge and made a speedy version of Fairy Soup.

Simmering in my slowcooker right now is a combination of collard greens, diced tomatoes, black eyed peas, black beans, fresh spinach, turkey sausage, carrots, onions, celery, chicken broth and spices. It looks & smells wonderful! This will be a perfect healthy, hearty dish for a chilly winter night! I'll also be baking a loaf of bread for the family members who aren't avoiding the "white stuff."

I have no idea about nutritional value or PointsPlus, but looking at similar recipes on the Weight Watchers site I would estimate about 4 PointsPlus per 1 cup serving.

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"Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul, when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood."

"Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest... beautiful, no. Amusing, yes."